Ed Miliband has given a cautious welcome to significant gains by Labour in council elections in England and Wales, but has warned the party has "more work to do" if it's going to secure a victory at the next general election.

The party is keeping the champagne firmly on ice because results are still coming in - and the party fears it will lose control of Glasgow council later when results from Scotland begin to emerge.

Labour is also preparing for Ken Livingstone's expected defeat at the hands of Boris Johnson in the London Mayoral election, a result that's expected by early evening.

Miliband told reporters on Friday morning: “We are a party winning back people’s trust, regaining ground, but there’s more work to do.”

With just over half of the council election results in, Labour have gained more than 500 councillors. The party could find itself with more than 700 new wards by the end of the day.

As expected the coalition partners have had a bad night - as of 10am on Friday the Tories had lost nearly 300 seats and the Lib Dems almost 160. Nick Clegg said he was "very sad" at the losses, with the Lib Dem children's minister Sarah Teather saying it was "inevitable" that the Lib Dems would take another pounding at the ballot box. That said, Lib Dems are privately hoping that this year's elections won't be quite as bad for them as last year's.

Speaking on Friday morning David Cameron said he was “sorry for all the hard-working Conservative councillors who lost their seats."

"We need to appeal to people and I would note that in these results... in places like Amber Valley and Derbyshire, we still have a Conservative council. We've got to make sure we demonstrate that we're on the side of people who work hard."

Among other developments on Friday morning, Labour took the first-ever Liverpool mayoral election by a landslide, but so far all of the cities holding referendums on whether to have an elected mayor have rejected the idea - in another humiliation for David Cameron, who pushed the idea in the first place.

It's wasn't a perfect night for Labour, which had to watch as the Respect party gained five seats on Bradford council - mirroring George Galloway's shock win in the Bradford West by-election two months ago.

The Tories lost control of key battleground councils like Thurrock in Essex - although Tory sources say they are particularly concerned by a surge in support for UKIP in polls there.

Close



Elections

of





Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha leave the polling station at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

SNP Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon casts her vote at Broomhouse Halls polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont at Berryknowe Resource Centre polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

SNP Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon arrives to cast her vote at Broomhouse Halls polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

A voter arrives at Berryknowe Resource Centre polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont (left) and local candidate Alistair Watson (right) at Berryknowe Resource Centre polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha leave the polling station at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma arrive at their local polling station in north London with their son Tom, to cast their votes in the mayoral and council elections.

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha arrive at the polling station in Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, before voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London with their dog Coco and children Mia and Tom after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha leave the polling station at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London with their dog Coco after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London after voting in mayoral and council elections.

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha leave the polling station at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London after voting in mayoral and council elections.

Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Labour leader Ed Miliband and his wife Justine arrive at their local polling station in north London to vote in the mayoral and council elections.

Labour leader Ed Miliband and his wife Justine leave their local polling station in north London after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Labour leader Ed Miliband and wife Justine arrive at their local polling station in Highgate, north London, to vote in the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

Labour leader Ed Miliband and wife Justine arrive at their local polling station in Highgate, north London, to vote in the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

Ballot boxes are sent out to polling stations around Edinburgh from the council headquarters ahead of the local elections tomorrow.

A voter arrives to cast a vote at Broomhouse Halls polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

A voter arrives to cast a vote at Broomhouse Halls polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

Ballot boxes are sent out to polling stations around Edinburgh from the council headquarters ahead of the local elections tomorrow.

Ballot boxes are sent out to polling stations around Edinburgh from the council headquarters ahead of the local elections tomorrow.

Boris Johnson and his wife Marina Wheeler leave their local polling station in London after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Boris Johnson and his wife Marina Wheeler arrive at their local polling station in London to vote in the mayoral and council elections.

Boris Johnson and his wife Marina Wheeler leave their local polling station in London after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Party leader Nick Clegg arrives to cast his vote in the local elections at the Park Hill community centre in his constituency in Stannington in Sheffield.

Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Party leader Nick Clegg arrives to cast his vote in the local elections at the Park Hill community centre in his constituency in Stannington in Sheffield.

A man watches the vote count status on screens inside City Hall in London as results are tallied in the London Mayoral and local elections on May 4, 2012. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party took a bashing Friday in mid-term local elections, capping a bad month for the government after Britain slid back into recession. However, early vote indications showed Conservative Boris Johnson may hold on to the mayor's job in London in the year of the 2012 Olympics. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages)

Two men watch the vote count status on screens inside City Hall as results are tallied in the London Mayoral and local elections on May 4, 2012. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party took a bashing Friday in mid-term local elections, capping a bad month for the government after Britain slid back into recession. However, early vote indications showed Conservative Boris Johnson may hold on to the mayor's job in London in the year of the 2012 Olympics. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages)

Labour leader Ed Miliband in Victoria Square, Birmingham, after Labour made significant gains in the mid-term local elections.

Labour leader Ed Miliband in Victoria Square, Birmingham, after Labour made significant gains in the mid-term local elections.

Edinburgh City Council votes are counted at the Meadowbank stadium, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh City Council votes are counted at the Meadowbank stadium, Edinburgh.

(From left to right) First Minister Carwyn Jones, Cardiff Council leader Heather Joyce and Shadow Wales Secretary Peter Hain celebrate the party's local government election win in the Welsh capital in Queen Street, Cardiff.

Respect Party leader George Galloway at the party's Bradford HQ after they won five seats on the Bradford Council, including that of the Labour leader.

Respect Party leader George Galloway with supporters at the party's Bradford HQ after they won five seats on the Bradford Council, including that of the Labour leader.

Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont (right), MP Margaret Curran (left) and Labour leader Gordon Matheson at the SECC in Glasgow, as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont (left) and Labour leader Gordon Matheson at the SECC in Glasgow as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont at the SECC in Glasgow as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

SNP Leader Allison Hunter (left) and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (right) at the SECC in Glasgow as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson (left) with David Meikle at the SECC in Glasgow as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

She told the BBC: "Where Ukip is fielding candidates this time that the BNP did last time but they're not this time, I think that will have an impact. There are members of Ukip who are from all sorts of political parties, but it is an interesting mix there in terms of the number of candidates."

Her comments provoked a furious reaction from Ukip party workers, with one senior figure calling her a "bitch" on Twitter before hastily deleting the post.

Later today there will be further council election and Mayoral referendum results - but the big stories will come later in the day from Glasgow council and London.

Labour are not confident of winning either of these polls - Glasgow Council is considered a former Labour stronghold but is at risk of being lost to an SNP surge.

In London Ken Livingstone went into Thursday's poll trailing Tory incumbent Boris Johnson by six points. Most pundits have called the election for Boris - although as a party Labour is expected to do well in the London Assembly elections.

We have results in from 13 of the 14 constituencies in the Mayor of London and London Assembly election.
The final constituency is Brent & Harrow. The Greater London Returning Officer has been in touch with the CRO for Brent & Harrow to establish the reason for a delay.
All batches of ballot papers were registered and scanned. Two batches went to storage without some ballot papers being manually entered as required. Manual entry is required when a scanner cannot read a ballot paper – for example if a ballot paper is damaged. It is not an issue with the scanners.
The issue was identified during the verification stage. These two batches are being re-processed. To make this happen as quickly as possible we have separated out into several smaller batches. This is why the progress screens appear to show a changing number of verified ballot papers.

We will declare as soon as possible but it is obviously important that every vote is counted.

Ed Miliband, speaking in Southampton, has declared that Labour is "coming back".

This comes after Labour took control of Southampton from the Conservatives.

He railed against the "out of touch government in Westminster".

"David Cameron promised change, not for the better but for the worse. Today in Southampton, it is a rejection of the economic failure of this government, and the unfairness of this government". he added

He also boasted that Labour is "beating back" the SNP in Scotland.

He recognised the low turnouts, saying it showed there was "still more to do".

Clearly annoyed, Farage has arrived at City Hall and says that the ballot paper fail was UKIP's fault, not London Elects. But he's blaming it on UKIP's poor performance. They're currently trailing in 6th place behind Siobhan Benita